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The lunchbox is not my favorite part of school. Thinking about food sitting in a smelly thermal bag with toxic icepacks and plastic containers that taste like dishwasher or yesterday’s lunch over a period of several hours until lunchtime makes my nose cringe. Not to mention,the amount of waste one little box can generate.

So, I feel much better when I find products like kids konserve and my pet peeves are put to ease.

I have mentioned this eco-friendly brand before here. My favorite thing about kids konserve is that some products are made from recycled materials (the sweat-free ice pack sleeve used to be a plastic water bottle!), and that ev and I can pack a completely waste-free lunch using the stainless steel containers, cloth napkins and food cozies.

Our favorite item this year is the new glass water bottle in a silicone sleeve. Those neon colors really pop!

Did I mention the ice packs are made out of a non-toxic gel. There is so much to love about these products!

It feels satisfying to support such an endeavor to keep lunch boxes clean, safe and out of the garbage pile.

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The six to eight week symbiotic period following birth is so precious. With all the changes involved, this period can feel so overwhelming. For me, I found a few insights that have kept me grounded and peaceful letting me experiencing these invaluable days to their fullest (most days anyway!)

“Delegate and don’t look” The midwife who assisted my birth, sagely offered these words as I prepared to go home. The time and patience necessary to bond with a new baby, to care for self and other children leave the concerns of household and work at the wayside. Have extra hands, be specific about needs, and let them work as they will.

Understanding the Human Being The Importance of the First Three Years of Life by Dr Silvana Quattrocchi Montanaro. This book is packed full of physical and psychological insight toward newborns and up to age three. The ideas that have most impacted how I feel toward my child:

The child has a need for another human to develop. We can be responsive without hyper- or hypo-responding. “Developing the right type of attachment during the symbiotic period paves the way for a natural detachment and the psychological birth happens.” “Only when a need is completely fulfilled is it overcome.”

“Movement is one of the most important aspects of development in the first years of life.” “In prenatal life, the fetus is always active, using its body and limbs at will.” At birth, instead to swaddle and confine to small spaces, we can dress and provide spaces sufficient for movement. “The child tries to continue to move as it used to, but finds it impossible. All his motor skills vanish.” “A tragic aspect of the development of movement is that, generally, the more children are able to do, the more they are restricted in their freedom of activity. They go from crib to infant seat to baby carriage, high chair and play pen.” “The child is surrounded by an organized effort to restrain his development!”

“Onesies have crisscrossed shoulders for a reason” Did you know the shoulders of most infant clothing have folded flaps to make sliding down off the body easy rather than over the head? How did I never realize this! Thank you for sharing my friend, Keeley.

Thalasso Bain Bebe Watch this bathing technique by nurse Sonia Rochel as it speaks for itself. I can say, having approached the bath in this manner, doing with the child rather than to the child, has been pleasurable for baby and for myself.

Hand-me-downs are progressive. I am not sure I would have accepted this for my first-born, but practicality has taken over with my second-born. I am grateful for the infant seat and baby clothes from cousins, a like-new baby carrier from a friend and a stroller from another. It feels good to consume less and to give good use to perfectly good stuff.

DIY suits me more than ever come Halloween.What a night for creepy decorations and outlandish costumes, driven by the child’s creativity and imagination.

Admittedly, I am the mom who avoids store-ready Halloween costumes. There’s something about the creativity and satisfaction of children when left, mostly to themselves, to come up with trick-or-treat night’s merriment.

After a rummage together through ev’s trunk and a compilation of costumes, she was smiling and proud to put together her costume telling me to close my eyes as she tied up the details.

p.s. If you must, do the pinterest perfect decor yourself. I did! Especially these spider webs